


Asgard Is a People

by storiesofchaos



Series: The Story of Loki, Trygve, and Eydís [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Brotherly Love, Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Gratuitous Descriptions of Food & Landscape, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Siblings, Thor: Ragnarok (2017), i've already cried writing this, infinity war denial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-06-21 07:37:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15552813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiesofchaos/pseuds/storiesofchaos
Summary: "Loki and Thor turn and see before them a small boy, roughly aged seven, dark curls a mess and cheeks streaked with dirt and tears. He is carrying a sniffling babe in his arms, her eyes looking at the gods with an expression of utter despair, too knowing for a one year old and far too sad. Pain lashes at Loki’s heart, and it was this moment that, unconsciously, he vows to be better, for real this time, no matter what it takes."In which Loki takes in two Asgardian orphans against his and everyone else's better judgement.





	1. losna / broken

**Author's Note:**

> I got the idea and had to do it, so here's my totally unnecessary parenting!Loki fic! This story starts off during the Thor: Ragnarok mid-credits scene, when Thor and Loki are looking out the spaceship window and talking. But instead of seeing Thanos' ship, they find something else instead . . (really this is just an excuse to continuously deny whatever happened in Infinity War)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He has never sung for anyone before, only to himself when he was particularly desperate and alone. But as he softly begins, the boy smiles and whispers that his mama used to sing this, while Eydís gives a contented sigh in her sleep.

Never in all his life did Loki think he would get as attached to children as he did that day.

He had liked the young Asgardians well enough before, weaving seidr and creating little tricks to entertain them sometimes, or even reading to them in his younger days. Though lately he had grown slightly jealous of them, living relatively care-free with good families and not nearly the amount of pressure put on them as Loki had had on him.

Until now, when today the foundations of their home had gone up in flames and crumbled. Now the children were dirty and tired and heartbroken, and Loki found he could suddenly relate to them much more than before.

But they were still better than he, they were strong little souls, innocent but believing, loyal and not afraid to show their true feelings. That was where he failed in his existence, where he stumbled and ultimately gave up.

In that moment when he was standing next to his brother, looking out of the wide windows and waiting to arrive at their new home, he thought about his childhood. Back when he was naive and let people wound him, when he was softer and allowed himself to _feel._ He wondered what his mother would think of him now, what she would do to fix the pains of their people.

 _Their people._ He was still getting used to treating himself as one of their own, after all this time. His family, by similar situation and loss of hope, if not by blood.

Yet he was still worried for the future, deep down. Even if Thor had just said _I feel like everything's going to work out fine._

And that is when he hears it. From behind them comes the sound of little footsteps and muffled cries, as if the one making them were trying to be as small and discreet as possible. Next there is a quiet, ‘excuse me?’ The voice of a frightened child.

Loki and Thor turn and see before them a small boy, roughly aged seven, dark curls a mess and cheeks streaked with dirt and tears. He is carrying a sniffling babe in his arms, her eyes looking at the gods with an expression of utter despair, too knowing for a one year old and far too sad. Pain lashes at Loki’s heart, and it was this moment that, unconsciously, he vows to be better, for real this time, no matter what it takes.

Thor immediately strides over and crouches down next to them, looking the children over for any sign of injury. Yet Loki can’t move, feels like he can’t _breathe._ It is the appearance of these two children that shakes his world.

Suddenly, like Odin comes to Thor at times of need, Loki could only see Frigga. She smiles at him from beyond this life and a great unexplainable warmth fills his heart. It was as if he knew what he had to do, yet his thoughts couldn’t grasp it, couldn’t understand. But images of his mother comforting him as a wee one, looking not so different from the children in front of him, comes flashing through his mind and it finally strikes him.

He feels dizzy, sick, and later he would wonder at the feelings he experiences in this moment, but it feels as if everything in his life had been leading up to this. The rational side of him knows this is crazy — but he gave up listening to that part of him a long time ago.

Instead, he tentatively steps forward until he too is on eye level with the young boy.

“Are your parents here?” he asks as calmly as he can, though he knows what the boy will say.

Tears immediately well in the boy's eyes, and that is all the answer he needs.

“Why did you come to us then, and not a friend or another mother?” Thor asks, not to reprimand, but out of curiosity.

“My mama, she —” the boy's voice breaks off in a pitiful sob before plowing forward, “she said whenever we were in trouble to go to the princes and they could help us.”

Tears nearly grow in Loki's own eyes, and the baby starts crying more fiercely now. There was no time to think, only time to _do._

Thor lays a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder as Loki gently takes the baby girl from her brother's grasp, letting her grip onto his hair and bury her head in the crook of his neck.

“What are your names, young ones?” Loki asks as the boy clutches onto his arm.

“I am Trygve, and my sister is Eydís,” he replies.

“Honorable names!” Thor exclaims with a smile, but his look at Loki is full of sadness and understanding.

Thor sees how his brother looks at the children, how quietly he talks to them and how he holds them like they were his own. It puzzles him, but also fills his heart with pride.

“Shall I have someone set up beds and a washbasin for them near your room?” He asks as way of a goodbye.

Loki doesn't even take his eyes of the pair as he nods, and Thor leaves with his brother on the floor with two little children in his lap and his heart beating rapidly in his chest.

\---

Loki can hear the sounds of peaceful breathing as the children lay in dreamland behind him. He is standing near the window in the annex of his room, now the children's bedroom for the time being. They were so exhausted that they fell asleep instantly, completely ready to rejuvenate their bodies and minds.

The stars blinking on the other side of the glass watch as Loki looks out at the unchanging sky floating past. He's taken his cloak and outer armor off, but he cannot sleep. He hasn't been able to in a while, and he has stopped trying in order to cease the frustration that comes with it.

Instead, late at night is when the pain and regret and heartbreak comes seeping from behind the blockages he's made in his head, out into his waking thought. Throughout all the long years of his life, these were the moments, in the quiet darkness of the night, when he either felt the overwhelming need to start over and fix the mess he has made, or the rash notion to finally, truly, destroy everything beautiful in his life.

He does not know what he has done to deserve such a loyal and unwavering brother such as Thor. No matter how many times they hurt each other, physically or mentally, no matter how much they make each other cry or mourn, they continue to seek each other out in the end.

Even to work with one other, which was the most recent case.

How ironic it was that it took a sister to make the brothers come together and fight against a common enemy instead of each other.

Loki finds it hard to believe he has changed now. He feels the same, just perhaps with a different perspective. He feels the same distraught and loneliness and confusion he has felt all his life, yet it is duller for the moment, only on the edge of his consciousness.

But he is still afraid, terribly so, of what would happen when they approach Earth. And he knows he is being selfish, that the Midgardians have every right to hate him, despise him enough to seek him out and finally be rid of him.

So many people in the universe would love to see the end of him.

Thor would too, once he knew what Loki had done before they had left Asgard. The thought of the Tesseract comes into his mind, and a sharp pain of guilt washes over him. Loki suddenly realizes with great sadness that he could have made yet another terrible mistake.

 _I shouldn't have taken it. I shouldn't have taken it, now_ he _can find us and break what is most precious to Thor— his people._

He closes his eyes and begins to visibly tremble a bit. His fingers are starting to curl into a hard fist before a little hand suddenly slips into his own, making his heart jump. Trygve is standing next to him and looking up at him with the expression of pure childhood concern. Loki hadn't even heard him wake, he was so wrapped up in his dark thoughts.

“Did you have a bad dream?” Trygve asks quietly, almost like a mother would to a child. Loki regards him silently for a moment.

“No, I was just thinking,” He goes with instead of saying yes.

“Oh. Well I had a bad dream,” the boy says, almost matter-of-factly, but his tiny fingers grip onto Loki's a little harder.

Loki panics for a moment while he frantically tries to recall what his mother would have done in this instance. He would wake from slumber often when he was younger, caused by bewildering or even horrifying visions, yet Frigga always knew when this happened and would comfort him with ancient songs and tales of lore every time.

He leads Trygve back to his makeshift bed and the boy gets cozy beneath the multitudes of blankets once more, Loki sitting cross-legged on the floor next to him. Trygve looks up at him expectantly and Loki hesitates for a moment, nervous.

He cannot remember the songs his mother sang to him, only fragments, so he chooses a newer one sang oft to the children in Asgard.

He has never sung for anyone before, only to himself when he was particularly desperate and alone. But as he softly begins, the boy smiles and whispers that his mama used to sing this, while Eydís gives a contented sigh in her sleep.

 

> _“Bissam, bissam baad'ne,_  
>  _gryta hængø i jod'ne;_  
>  _koka full tå rjumegraut_  
>  _åt dæ vesle baad'ne._  
>  _Far han sittø og harpa kødn_  
>  _more, ho blæsø saa vakkert hødn,_  
>  _syste, ho sittø aa spinnø gull,_  
>  _bror, han gaar i skogen;_  
>  _jaga allø villø dyr;_  
>  _æ han kvit saa kjøyr'n hit,_  
>  _æ han graa, saa lat'n gaa,_  
>  _æ han brun i boge,_  
>  _saa laat'n gaa i skoge.”_ _  
> _

Both children are sleeping peacefully by the time he is finished with the last line, and he himself feels much calmer than he had a few minutes ago.

He feels truly tired, finally, more ready for sleep than he has been for years, and he goes to his bed in the next room as if already in a dream. Somehow he knows that he will not be disturbed by phantom images during his rest, and he falls asleep almost as soon as he lays his head on the pillow.

He does not consciously feel the broken fragments of his heart slowly mend, just a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trygve means "true, trustworthy" and Eydís means "good fortune, goddess". 
> 
> The song is an actual Norwegian lullaby: https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=3882


	2. þróask / growing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is a cool and dark Spring night, the sky a myriad of bright greens and turquoise against a deep blue backdrop, with sections fading to black. The children's eyes widen impossibly more with wonder, even if they are shivering and their noses are rosy. 
> 
> “It’s your colors,” Trygve says after a while, clutching onto Loki's clothes with his little fingers. 
> 
> Loki smiles, and they watch the glow in the sky flicker like colored reflections in bits of shattered glass.

They arrive at the cliffside in Norway, and for the people of Asgard it is all at once strange and familiar; a temporary place. For Loki, it is a memory with a bad aftertaste, or perhaps a premonition of things to come. Loki supposes Thor chose it because although it is a place of death and the reveal of previously unknown sisters, it still has shreds of their family and of Asgard, and Loki knows Thor will clutch onto these as hard as he can.

It is Spring when they arrive, and the able-bodied people go with Thor into the surrounding forests and fields to forage and hunt to the best of their abilities. Midgard is different, but still close enough to Asgard that this place becomes their new normal quite quickly. It is strange how the brain can get so used to something so soon when it has to.

Loki stays behind and watches the sky, weaving protecting to keep their little haven safe. But mostly he keeps a close eye on Trygve and Eydís, letting the little girl sit up on the grass while the boy scampers about.

Trygve is especially fond of the ocean, and Loki has to stop him from tumbling down the cliffside several times. Before one such occasion, Loki has an anxious feeling he cannot explain, as if something terrible is on the cusp of his thoughts or out of the corner of his eye. He spends the majority of the day nervously looking up towards the clouds, as if he expects to see a black ship heralding their destruction behind the fluffy white poofs.

An honest fear, yet he still worries of the future far too often.

Later, he would berate himself for looking upwards when he should have been looking around him, for he doesn’t notice Trygve start to scramble down a steep drop to the raging waves and froth below. It isn’t until he hears the sound of loose rock falling and a child’s yell that he realizes what is happening. In barely a second he crosses the distance from where he had been standing to the cliff's edge and throws himself onto his stomach, until he manages to grip onto the boy before he has gotten very far. Eydís cooes and claps from where she is sitting while Trygve swears not to do such a thing ever again.

Later, Valkyrie will joke that Loki has good mother instincts, and while Loki will smile back weakly, he cannot hide the fact that he is still shaking slightly.

\---

The Northern Lights begin to show themselves now. The first time this happens, Trygve's eyes widen from where he is perched in the ship, nose nearly pressed against the glass of the window of their room.

Loki can barely stop the boy from rushing out by himself, and Eydís has started to fake-cry because she so wants to see the pretty aurora in the sky. Trygve wiggles impatiently as Loki pulls sweaters over their heads to ward against the chilly evening air, before they quietly make their way out.

It is a cool and dark Spring night, the sky a myriad of bright greens and turquoise against a deep blue backdrop, with sections fading to black. The children's eyes widen impossibly more with wonder, even if they are shivering and their noses are rosy.

“It’s your colors,” Trygve says after a while, clutching onto Loki's clothes with his little fingers.

Loki smiles, and they watch the glow in the sky flicker like colored reflections in bits of shattered glass.

\---

The children spend the majority of the warm weather outside, Trygve playing with the others his age and Eydís squatting and plucking grass near her or gurgling happily up at the birds passing by.

Loki will often take the children to a secluded meadow, and bring a picnic with wild strawberries and honey and fresh spring water. The boy races through the knee-high grass and wildflowers and Eydís hobbles over to anything she finds particularly interesting, while Loki tries not to think too much. The sun is warm here, with a brisk sea breeze, and these are the times when Loki lets himself forget everything weighing on him, even when he finds this hard.

But he tries admirably, instead delighting in pointing out butterflies fluttering by or smiling for no reason but to smile.

Once, Eydís plucks a flower and shows it to Loki gleefully, before he smiles and tucks it into her hair. When he finds this fascinates her, Loki takes more blooms and weaves her a crown of flowers, deftly forming them together to the young girl’s wonderment.

Trygve becomes curious and asks for one too, so Loki braids little sections throughout his hair to tuck the flowers into. Trygve begs to let them make Loki one of his own, and they are so enthused with the idea that he cannot help but agree.

Eydís picks more wildflowers, a mismatch array of purples and blues and yellows, before Trygve clumsily sticks them into Loki’s loose hair. It is messy and looks a bit silly in any other person’s eyes, but Loki keeps the blooms intact all day long nonetheless.

\---

Thunderstorms arrive in early Summer, bringing copious amounts of rain and muggy weather. Thunder will rumble from the sky nearly every day, and lighting rages and crackles in big bolts. It is not as spectacular or powerful as Thor’s abilities, instead, it causes an unsettling feeling to blanket the Asgardians, and the storms render them nervous.

One particular night, the thunderstorm is fiercer than ever, and the ground nearly shakes beneath their feet with the force of it. Loki is keeping watch over Trygve and Eydís, as he cannot sleep that night, and the children’s own is fitful.

Suddenly a tremendous strike of lightning shoots straight across the sky, waking the children with a jolt. From the wide window in front of them they can see that the bolt has struck a large tree in the distance, causing it to burst into flames.

Eydís immediately starts screaming, a sound Loki has not heard from her before, completely full of sheer terror and laced with pain. Her tiny nails dig into her skin from where she has made tight fists and her eyes are wide with a fear Loki understands too well.

She has been brutally reminded of her home and family going up in flames.

Loki quickly scoops her up in his arms and her brother gives her kisses on her head, but she will not cease the wails. Loki gently shooshes and rocks her, and even sings a bit, yet he himself is starting to get terrified when her voice grows hoarse and she finds it hard to breathe.

“You’re safe here, just hold on,” he frantically whispers over and over. He tries in vain to remember what comforted him as a child, until realizing that is had been when his mother was calm and confident in telling him that he’d be okay, that he’d be alright and she knew it. This had made him truly believe her. He forces himself to breathe normally and lets his heartbeat slow before smiling at the young girl.

Her eyes are red and too many tears are still running down her cheeks onto Loki’s, and her face is growing a bit purple, but as Trygve holds her hand and Loki conveys as much happiness and hope that he has in him from his eyes to hers, she abruptly stops and grows quiet.

She still looks terribly sad and she is hiccuping a little, but a small smile is starting to break through.

Loki curses Odin and Hela, and mostly himself, that one so young and pure should ever be so frightened in such a way because of what they've done.

By the time Loki looks back out the window, Thor has doused the flames and the storm is starting to die down. He doesn’t remember much of what transpires after that, but when he awakes the next morning, he is on the floor with the children still asleep in his arms.

\---

In late Summer, Loki will occasionally take the children out to see the stars. They had seen plenty of them on the way to Midgard of course, but having a stable ground of dirt and grass to stand upon make the experience all the more comforting and normal.

He takes them to the cliff edge, but not too close remembering Trygve’s close fall, and brings a soft blanket with blueberries and cloudberries to put atop it. He has the children lie down on their back, faces tilted towards up towards heavens. Eydís usually falls asleep not long after starting these excursions, her calm breathing putting Loki at ease. Loki gives the names of all the stars and planets and constellations that they can see, only to have Trygve rename them all for himself. There is a group of stars he is most fond of, ones he will always let his eyes stray back to. These he names after his sister, Loki, Thor, his mother and father, and the brother that didn’t make it here.

Sometimes a shooting star will flash across the dark sky and Trygve squeezes his eyes shut and wishes on it with all his might. Loki wishes too, even if deep down he thinks it could never come true.

He once asks Trygve what he wished for, and the boy turns his contemplative gaze towards him.

“Happiness, for all of us, especially you and Eydís,” he replies sincerely. Loki turns to look at him, the same look of sorrow and disbelief that he had given to Odin after the sentiment he had shared on this very cliff.

Loki does not wish to disappoint the boy.

Trygve, possibly analyzing Loki’s expression, adds thoughtfully after a moment, “and maybe some pet goats.”

Loki cannot help but laugh aloud, the sound echoing in the quiet night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Various concepts inspired by maharlika, Roselightfairy, & earlgreytea68 <3


	3. sællifðr / living happily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Earth is cloaked in shadow, but as Trygve prompts him to continue and Eydís snuggles closer into his side, he knows that hope is not truly lost. 
> 
> He is still broken, but he is growing and healing with the children's unknowing help. 
> 
> And that is enough, for now.

[I am not an artist by any means, but this link will take you to a few rough sketches of how I envision the children.](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Rx9ZkkoVTtmyETVSdTf0qj_-xm0XQbKwxC2K7B5-OcFDcKWZWov81UzRuZFbKpevAkH6VMvls6EJ8GZQmExTxb1olZKxD95GV0F8a5LNIKcjN38tAe4HHhXfyYcaS0CY4RZalrd316sykainHyl9Otkj5gvvdNRx7loCm1RBz2AGnPcF6SF7CoWVZwzDQF-jZ1Ak4_G7CtzBlw8ZEcQCkGcRB7J7jsX_3PUs3Ft2_wMy969V952zepvirdFbsbVlzVS-JAKswgRIhFHmPJchTomZvFWyQcpGEEO0QxHGJL6BSVZfjQyN3W_r-h0Zzqpw20gWBp5audEIJqnepaBhU04hfsnMfZ3RPnJibKSjem4VM4CxsV7OFZvyj8toxpGD2Fs4NyNaZ61KqUGTe8c0CBodXkzEbf1eSE9nIyQG6Op6ds71bFDhrI7xW1eqVA_syLmxtkdEXbuSjWaPeY8aOlHVN8KOnAL7olN6BeiqdM40QfaTAjWKcw3w_yKIenEr7_HPLlLPB5875kt1QexV7wHjc4_dXZYRJe2M-I5nO6SVxhrclK0ekFKmKfqj12LElrmlsdEWjFJvrqUXtkZeXnW392lHuFOkzfNu8qDA2oESaPOBi6P43h326NDUo2_A=w834-h923-no) Feel free to imagine them how you want to though, and make your own versions of Trygve and Eydís to become attached to! 

\---

At the end of October, the Asgardians honor their dead. They gather big, fallen leaves of brown and red and yellow from the nearby forest, and Thor creates tiny bits of light almost like little stars to place in the middle of each one. The light does not burn the wrinkled leaves — this is the work of Loki.

Each person then drops them into the now peaceful sea, recalling memories of those lost. Trygve gently lets his own float down off the cliff, the shaking of his hands the only sign that he is hurting inside.

Thor and Loki are the last to let theirs go, Thor leaving his hand on Loki’s shoulder for a long moment before walking away, his eye shining in the moonlight. Loki stays still on the cliffside for a while afterwards, Eydís asleep in his arms and Trygve standing silently near him, the boy's gaze never leaving his little leaf with the glow of the flame fluttering in the breeze.

It is a beautiful night, the gentle waves against the shoreline mingle with the crickets chirping to create a lulling sound, and the dark sky looks like it encompasses the entire earth with the full moon a luminous beam that fills one’s soul with a sense of calm.

Loki can’t help but let some tears he has kept hidden from falling over his face. He feels a tug at his hand, and when he looks down he sees Trygve is crying too, his mouth in a small frown. Loki tucks him under his arm and keeps him close, and as the last of the lights fade from sight into the gloom, Loki leads them back to their beds to sleep, and to dream.

\---

On one particularly blustery November morning, no one has the desire to step outside. The raging winds could send even a grown Asgardian flying off the side of the cliff, let alone a child. This is the first day in a while where the weather has been this extreme, and Loki knows Trygve and Eydís will be disappointed.

So he plans an indoor picnic of sorts, before they even awaken, complete with colorful blankets and soft pillows and lots of treats for them to devour with sticky fingers. He can already envision how the children will wrap themselves up in warm throws and giggle to one another, as Tyrgve tells Eydís the stories he makes up on a whim, stories about anything really, but always ending with the word _happy._ Loki remembers well how when he was a child he would hide in the dark, just sitting there, when the world became too much to bear. And then Thor would somehow find him, would light the candles and build a pillow fort for them both to lie in as they eat sweets smuggled from the kitchen. This had always made him feel better, if just for a moment — a short peace between two brothers.

It is because of this that he is smiling slightly as he goes over to where the children are snuggled in their beds. But in all his preparation he had forgotten how unusual it is for them to not be awake after sunrise, chilly day or not. He kneels beside their sleeping forms, smile quickly turning into concern.

Their faces are terribly pale and cheeks are flushed, and not in the way they usually are when they are running outside in the crisp air. Eyebrows and mouths are drawn up in frowns and their sleep seems restless.

It is in this moment that everything that has happened in Loki’s life, the downfalls and opinions that have been thrust upon him and the emotions that have been pushed deep inside him are laid out and stripped bare, and he only sees two young ones who are ill and have no one here right now but him.

Trygve weakly opens his eyes halfway and mumbles something before closing them again, while Eydís starts to softly cry but quickly stops when she doesn’t find the energy to continue. Their faces are burning up when Loki touches them with the back of his hand, and these are symptoms he’s never seen before. They must have contracted something from Midgard, and Loki does not trust himself to heal them on his own.

There is only one human on this ship and thankfully, he is a doctor.

\---

Bruce Banner has stayed with the Asgardians up until this point, perhaps because he feels bad to leave them in their state, but mostly because, deep down, he is afraid of facing the people of Earth once again, afraid of what they would say about him or how they would treat him. Especially his old friends and fellow Avengers, and that is what scares him the most. He keeps telling himself he isn’t ready, but he’s not sure when he  _will_ be.

In any case, he has spent the last few months relaxing and recouping and occasionally helping an Asgardian with ailments, although they are quite hardy folk and do not need much help from a man.

But he never thought about the human illnesses and diseases being a possibility, until a haggard looking Loki comes to fetch him.

Before he has even time to let out a word of surprise, he is being rushed to another room on the ship, and he has no time to think but to grab anything he might need based on Loki’s quick descriptions.

When they arrive at the bedsides of the ill children, Bruce is relieved to find that, while still unfortunate, they just have fevers and nothing life threatening. Loki has apparently never heard of such a thing, so it is a great task trying to be as friendly as he could be to the god to convince him they would be alright and that, as Asgardians, they will heal quicker than normal.

There is no proper medicine to cure a fever on the ship, so Bruce has to gather any of the herbs he thinks can work and use those instead. Loki flutters around him helplessly, and this puzzles Bruce. He has seen Loki with the children before of course, but he supposes he missed just how close they really are to each other.

This version seems so very different from the Loki he remembers S.H.I.E.L.D. kept in a glass cage, which feels like ages and ages ago. He is not sure how to feel.

He leaves with the promise to come back and check on them later, Loki sitting on the floor with his hair a mess and his eyes in permanent worry. That god has seen so much, he thinks, but the universe still finds ways to break him.

\---

On the morning of Yule, there are two notable happenings. The first is the heavy blanket of snow covering the land as far as the eye can see, deeper than had yet fallen this year. The second is the arrival of another ship, not of a foe, but one Thor recognizes as an Avengers vessel.

Thor thinks Loki ought to come greet the occupants of the ship with him as they were now in this together, but Loki opts to stay behind with Trygve and Eydís near him in the crowd of people that has gathered around the ship.

Steve Rogers steps out first, Thor saying something Loki can’t hear and gesturing towards his beard before they both laugh and clap each other on the back. Clint is also there and his eyes somehow immediately find his own, but then again he has to have incredible eyesight, his piercing gaze causing Loki to quickly look away. Doctor Banner has just come out from where he has been resting, but when he sees Romanoff he freezes, and they stare at each other for an excruciatingly long while.

Loki ignores this, and instead turns his attention now to Rhodes and Stark followed by a younger boy trailing behind, looking around curiously. Loki notices that Rogers and Stark avoid looking at each other or talking to one another directly, and he also doesn’t miss the look of pity they give the Asgardians and the wariness they bestow on Loki.

The visiting Avengers, Banner, Thor, and Heimdall shut themselves up in a meeting hall on the Avenger's ship to talk, not before Thor gives Loki an apologetic look, while Loki paces nervously in his own room. Trygve stares at him curiously and Eydís gives him a withering look as if to tell him to stop this nonsense. She expectantly points to the glittering snow tempting the children right outside the window. Trygve smiles at her conspiratorially.

“ _Please_ can we play in the snow?” the boy asks with his best wide, innocent eyes and his hands folded under his chin. But his grin is growing bigger by the second, and Loki finds it is contagious.

“All right,” he replies with a fake sigh, and he can barely pull mittens over their hands and thick sweaters over their heads before they run outside and nearly fling themselves headfirst into the snow.

It is soft, with just enough wetness to form and pack together. The children run about while Loki stands watching them, although his mind is elsewhere, back to the meeting hall.

“Mr. Loki?” he hears behind him, startling him out of his thoughts. When he turns he sees the boy from earlier, the one that had looked a bit lost as he tagged along behind Stark. “Mr. Stark said I could be excused, so I went out and saw you guys here. I’ve heard a lot about you.” When Loki visibly cringes he hurriedly changes the subject.

“I’m Peter, by the way, Peter Parker. Are those your kids?” Loki hesitates for only a split second.

"No.”

“Oh, well they’re cute.”

“Yes, they are.” Suddenly a ball of snow hits Loki in the chest and explodes into powdery flakes, and Loki steps back, startled. Peter quickly stifles his laughter when Loki looks at him, but lets it loose when he sees the expression of bewilderment on Loki’s face.

Hearing Eydís’ shout of delight, Loki looks up to see Trygve sprinting away and grinning back at himmischievously. “Devilish, too,” Loki tells Peter, before forming a snowball of his own and throwing it at Trygve’s back, who laughs even harder. Loki is about to make another when one hits him on the side of his head. He looks up to see Peter looking sheepishly back at him.

Loki raises his snowball and Peter runs towards Trygve to help the younger boy as Loki purposely misses his target. Eydís is just more ecstatic at this point, clapping her mittened hands with the thrill of it all.

The four proceed to have a grand snowball fight, Eydís and Loki against Peter and Trygve. They lose track of winnings, but they don’t care when it dissolves into throwing snow at anyone they spot, team member or not.

Loki is just happy to see the children smile with glee and their cheeks to redden with exhilaration and their eyes to light up. He catches Stark staring out one of the windows of the ship, looking at him with eyebrows raised, with a look of both confusion and amusement. Thor joins him and smiles out at Loki, waving at them before leading Stark away, who still looks bemused.

Later, Loki swiftly picks up Eydís from where she has just thrown her little pile of snow at him, and twirls her around, listening to the sound of her bubbling giggles, like a young mountain creek or the tinkling of sea shells. It makes him laugh too, and when they have gotten dizzy and calmed down a bit, she asks in a lilting voice, “Happy?”

He replies without hesitation now.

“Yes, my darling. Very happy.”

It is not until later that he realizes 'happy’ was her first word.

\---

Thor tells Loki afterwards that the Avengers want him to come back and fight with them once more. Loki asks if he agreed to do so, selfishly afraid of the answer.

“No, I did not accept. Not yet, not until our people are fully settled. Asgard needs Thor more right now.”

Loki leaves before he can let his brother see his relieved smile.

\---

When the new year arrives, the Asgardians are glad to finally put the last one behind them. They have only lost one elder since the arrival to the cliffside, as well as Doctor Banner who ended up finally leaving with the Avengers.

They spend the remainder of the frigid days inside, sitting beside warm fires that Thor creates and telling stories of the ancients.

Heimdall tells of how the realms were created and the beginning days of the universe. Thor adds in his own tales of battle and defeat, while even Valkyrie describes notable events from her times fighting in the elite force of women and the loss of her love which forced her to live on what she believes is borrowed time.

Loki is reluctant to begin when prompted, but soon he looses himself in the lore of his home planet and the story of the two princes of Asgard, and of course, tales of mischief that make everyone laugh. He weaves these stories with his silver tongue, creating seidr to visualize them and to see the wonder on all the childrens’ faces, stories of hope and loss and love and deceit.

This goes on for a long while, until everyone is drowsy with the heat and the talk, leaving Loki alone in the wide room with Trygve and Eydís tucked in his arms. They ask for one last story, so Loki makes one himself, letting the words flow easily.

“There once was a sad prince. He lived all his days in permanent worry, afraid that he would never be enough to live up to everyone's expectations — and most importantly, his own.

“He was regretful of every brash decision he made, yet he kept doing them because he was too scared to start over, for he thought that if he did he would fail again and again and again.  

“Then something terrible happened and his father's kingdom was destroyed. He became terrified that what he most feared would happen, that he would lose what he most loved, for it so happens that —” he pauses, suddenly reminded of the worry that has been playing in his mind of late.

There have been whispers among the creatures of the Earth and in the wind from other realms, talk of a great evil making his way across the galaxy.

_Thanos_ they call him.

Loki fills with dread just thinking about that name, what he could do to their people, to Thor and the children.

Earth is cloaked in shadow, but as Trygve prompts him to continue and Eydís snuggles closer into his side, he knows that hope is not truly lost.

He is still broken, but he is growing and healing with the children's unknowing help.

And that is enough, for now.

He sees the glow of the fire, he hears two little heartbeats, and he feels a warm feeling in his chest he's not sure he's ever felt before.

“For it so happens that he had found two young children, the boy courageous and charming and the girl beautiful and strong for one so small. They helped him not feel sad or alone. They even helped him not to dwell in his fear, so in the end they saved him.

The sad prince was now a happy prince.”

Eydís smiles against his chest and whispers, “happy” in her little fluttery voice.

Trygve says sleepily, “Yes. I’m glad you're happy, Loki.”

The children fall asleep, and Loki dare not move, but he's warm and content and doesn't want to anyways. _Everything will be okay,_ he thinks, _and if not at first, then the sun_ will _shine on us again._

That is what he hopes, with all his heart. He has to believe in it, for their sake.

For the ones he loves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I'm actually quite proud of myself because this is the first multi-part work of creative fiction I've ever successfully completed! (which sounds a bit crazy now that I say it, but it is true)
> 
> I hope you liked this silly little idea I had, because I had a lot of fun (and tear wrenching moments) writing this, and feel sad to leave Trygve and Eydís. Maybe I will continue their story someday?
> 
> In terms of the Avengers visiting the Asgardians, I thought it was about time that Tony and Steve suck it up and at least be in the same room together :)
> 
> Also, I like to think Eydís picked up the word 'happy' from her brother talking about it so much, and it just stuck with her. <3


End file.
